Jodie Rogers - The Hidden Edge

Despite all the evidence showing the costs to employers and the economy of poor mental health in the workplace, barriers to investment in workplace mental health remain, including a lack of evidence that such investments can have a positive impact on the bottom line.

However, employers who do embark on well-being programmes believe there will be benefits to investing in this way. According to a global survey by XEROX in 2016, 15 increasing employee productivity (59%) is now the top objective of a well-being programme, followed closely by improving employee engagement and morale (56%).

Thriving employees not only cost their employers less, they are more productive and more engaged in their work .

According to US research by The Healthways Center of Health Research, 16 as well-being increases, direct and indirect costs decrease, and employee performance improves. A 10% increase in well-being was associated with 24% lower presenteeism and 6% more ‘best work’ days per month .

Studies around the world have started to yield real-world evidence that workplace programmes focusing on enhancing the mental and emotional well-being of employees are an investment that yields valuable returns, rather than a cost (Table 2.3).

Table 2.3 Return on investment: mental health and well-being programmes.

The ROIs in the studies referenced above look at the quantifiable returns of employee wellness programmes in terms of reductions in absenteeism, increased productivity, and reduced turnover. But what of the other benefits? How can we quantify the benefits to an organisation willing to invest beyond the absence of illness and strive for enhancing the mental fitness of their employees? A study conducted for The World Economic Forum 20 highlights this perfectly.

Their survey spoke to employees across multiple organisations and asked their view on how their company performs. According to employees in organisations where health and well-being are actively promoted:

Organisations are seen as 2.5 times more likely to be a best performer (in their field).

Organisations are seen as 3 times more likely to be productive.

Organisations are seen as 3.5 times more likely to encourage creativity and innovation.

Organisations are seen as 4 times less likely to lose talent within the next year.

Employees are 8 times more likely to be engaged.

So, the takeaway from this is that thriving employees (those who have benefited from such programmes) are eight times more likely to be engaged employees . Engaged employees bring multiple benefits to organisations. In the United States, a Gallup survey 21 highlights the positive metrics associated with being engaged and thriving at work (Figure 2.2).

For instance, take the metric adaptability and think about how this might benefit a company embarking on a restructure. An alarming statistic from research conducted by McKinsey 22 shows that there's a 70% rate of failure in business transformations . One of the key reasons stated by McKinsey is, ‘People throughout the organization don't buy in, and they don't want to invest extra energy to make change happen.’ One factor that is frequently undervalued and dismissed is mindset, but we also know that mindset is the most important driver of exceptional strategic execution:

Figure 2.2Benefits to having engaged employees.

In organisations identified as extremely successful, 72% of respondents noted that the transformation ‘entirely’ or ‘very much’ took mindset into account.

In those organisations identified as not at all successful, this number drops to 8%.

We know from numerous studies that emotional intelligence leads to a better ability to manage our emotions and thoughts, and this ability leads to better mental health outcomes (less stress, anxiety, negative thinking), which both directly and indirectly lead to better performance over time.

In a case study on Unilever (found at the end of this book), where a programme of mental fitness had been undertaken, it was reported that employees embraced the change so successfully that 77% of participants claimed an increase in performance and increased their overall motivation by 15% .

In the UK, the 2020 CIPD Health and Well-Being at Work study 23 analysed the impact of well-being initiatives in the private sector. This study found 58% of organisations had better employee morale and engagement, 49% a healthier and more inclusive atmosphere, and 29% reduced work-related stress; while 16% reported better customer service, showing that well-being initiatives really permeate all parts of the organisation.

All these benefits ultimately lead to benefits to shareholders too. According to Deloitte USA, 24 companies in the S&P 500 with high health and wellness scores had a stock appreciation of 235% compared to 159% overall.

Through this chapter, we have put forward the huge costs of mental health in the workplace, to the world, and national economies. We have also put forward that for every $1 spent on wellness programmes in business, returns on that investment are calculated to be anywhere from $2–$14. We have also written about mental fitness, and how having employees who don't merely exist but thrivein the workplace will help your organisation transform, will help its creativity and its innovation.

Mental fitness isn't just about reducing the costs associated with mental illness; it's about enabling people to access all of their inner resources – equipping people to make the most of their talents and skills.

Mental fitness really matters for the future. More now, post COVID, than ever. We need our employees to be agile, resilient, and able to cope with what the new normal throws at them. The organisations that are more likely to succeed in this new environment are those with good, authentic wellness programmes – and those programmes will have to include elements of mental fitness. We've shown in this chapter that a company with a good wellness programme will have employees who are engaged and feel looked after. In return, the employees care about the company they work for, their boss, and they want to keep going because they feel ‘we're in this together’.

We face a turbulent future. We face a future where companies will have to re-evaluate the skills their employees need to survive in what's going to be a very tough market over the next few years. A mentally and emotionally fit workforce will be essential to succeed.

If you would like to have the in-depth version of this business case, it can be downloaded from www.symbiapartners.com/mentalfitnessresources.

This belief that we have inner resources that can give us an edge, that's a great and exciting thing … Accessing the inner resources of a human being. This is a source of competitive advantage.

– Tim Munden, Chief Learning Officer, Unilever

Mental fitness really matters for the future. We need agile and resilient leaders to secure our future. So, we have to make people understand that you've got to train your muscles, your mental muscles, to become more resilient and more agile for the future because the pace of change is rapidly increasing and we are constantly expecting more from each other in less time, therefore this is a vital skill to master. This isn't something you do because you're feeling a bit of stress, actually it's much more than that. It's about making yourself ready to become the type of leader we need for the future. It's really important that this is positioned as it should be – it's about developing our leaders to be mentally and emotionally fit for the future they must lead us into – one where we need to be adaptable and agile in the face of constant change.